Aptamer melting biosensors for thousands of signaling and regenerating cycles

Due to their recognition abilities and inherent regenerability, aptamers have great potential in biosensing applications. However, effective signal transduction and regeneration strategies are still required. Herein, we develop a melting-based aptamer sensing strategy capable of homogeneous signaling with over 1000 regenerating cycles without significant deterioration of performance. Such melting aptasensors employ melting temperature changes upon target binding as signal readout, and the high temperature involved in the melting process regenerates the aptamers for reuse. This reversible biosensor is reagentless, affordable, and maintenance-free, thus accelerating the real-world applications of aptasensors in continuous monitoring, wearable sensors, unattended operation, and resource-limited areas.